One-time Vice-President Dick Cheney: A Look Back on His Influential Government Service

The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".

Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.

The Post-9/11 Era

In charge of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.

Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Decisions

He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."

However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."

Wider Perspective

Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.

Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.

Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.

Questioning Techniques

However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.

Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."

Public Persona

Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."

Business Interests

Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.

In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty